Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-02-25

u
when the leader Of Gods people would let
the Devils dam into the graveyard 81 our
meetin' house, it is time when any man
may speak This woman could never br
made to go through that gate while alive:
why should she be carried through it, now
She is dead q
The murmur Of approval swelled again,
| louder than before and little by little the
groups shifted, until Mercy Slower and her
white-haired father were left alone beside
the rough coffin.
You were always hasty Of speech,
/ Priest Eaton answered calmly, but with
certain stern dignity that belonged TO his
office in those days "Who are you 10 say
who is worthy Who made you a witch
finder y
II did not need to be witch-linder TO
| know Goodwife 5toyer for a witch, was
| the stout reply. II knew Of her ways and
her repute while still she lived in Freeport
and warned Brother Elkniah against her.
/ For that very thing she was hotiy angered
against me, by this token that my seine
/ broke that same day / spoke as il every
mesh in it were cut, and sOrely hath she
many times since toimentcd me with her
witch wiles Ask Goodman Haskell. here,
| if he was not on my boat when she he
witched my killock 50 that all my strength
/ was llbJ 10 move II ulLll 1 illtht Jie sign OF
a cross on it. Ask"
81 have heard, interrupted the minister
''of your popsh practices before but they
are not to be boosted of in open day unre-
| huked'
Ekniah otover's limbs had failed under
| him, as this strange colluguy went ON, and
he sank a pathetic and broken figure, upon
the handle of the bier A. he sat with
one palsied hand, blue with cold, resting
upon the head of his staff and the other
clasping tightly the wrist Of Mercy, he
lifted his white hand with gesture of
despair and anguish.
WAS il for this, he walled in guaver-
ing voice Of pain. that the Lord gave me
strength to rise from my bed and to follow
the body Of my helpmeet to the grave when
"a grave is denied her. Ezra Johnston was
greatly enraged, as We all know, that after
his sister that was my wife died | should
90 Ia Freeport for helpneet, when he
would have had me CHOOSE the sister of his
own good wife His killock caught under
the thwarts. Waitstill Eastman can tell
You that. But all that went auiss Ezra
would still lay at the door of my gOOdwife;
her that is here dead before We, and We de
ny her a grave away from the wolves
She shall have her grave, father, Mercy
said, with AN intensity Of purpose that i'm
pressed even her angry uncle. she shall
lie 10y thg side of my own mother if ! have
~ bury her with no one to help me.
The tickle sympathy of the bystanders
veared m her direction, and one or two uf
the tish-Wives that had formed part of the
funeral train moved almost imperceptihly
toward the spot where she stood, their nc
ton showing that the more merciful, at
least, could not easily bring themselves 10
anything 81 horrible tn their mind rs to de
ny burial tu IA fellow creature. Before.
however, the movement could be mt all gen
cral, even before it was marked, Ezra John
stnn, whose always violent temper was fast
mastering him, broke out again
"Oh, no doubt Waitstill Eastman knows.
and / am IA blind fool that cannot see when
his killock is free of the thwarts Perhaps
! Goodman Eastman win say, too, that last
Sabbath night | wasn't hailed in my sleep
to the British bark off the point and drag
| ged 10y the devils imps up and down the
sides till | was bruised and aching III every
bone of my body. And | might have been
killed but that daylight drew On, and with
my own ears ] heard Goodw life Slower say
Let him go It's almost cock-crowing |
knew her voice as well As | know my own,
and that but two days before she died
What do you say to that, Elkniah Slower
| What 10 YOU say to that. Parson Eaton =
4 dozen voices broke loose into sudden
babble. The unseemly and cruel debate
that had thus far been carried on by single
voices was all at once taken up by the
whole company. The first surprise and
awe had now worn off enough to let the
folks recover the use of their tongues, and
men and women hurried now DANGEROUSLY
to deny or confirm Ezra Johnston's charges
The clergyman tried vainly to make him
= IL
growing tumult. The crowd became ev-
cry moment more and more like mob,
Johnston grew more and more furious and
his anger infected the men who were most
under his influence. The very name of
witch reused all the superstitious fears of
the simple fishermen, and all the fanatcism
of their blood was appealed to.
Come Johnston cried out at last,
struck with sudden idea, let Us take the
witch-wife 10 Devils Den, and leave her
bones to rot there. l warrant she has been
there times enough before
shuAder ran through his hearers. The
Devils Den was a rocky cave on the shore
of Harpswell Neck, where more than one
good boat had persisted, and where more
than one fisherman had seen struggling
lights fitting about to cheat him to his de
Struction.
long stride toward the bier, take hold
here some Of YOU
But before he could grasp the rude han
die, his niece sprang forward Her eyes
flashed her simple hood fell back from her
pale face and her whole form quivered
with excitement.
Coward she cried. "Oh, you coward,
you coward -
Her voice, shrill and high, rang upward
toward the heavy gray clouds as if it would
call down help from heaven. The women
shank back in fear and the men in aston
ishment while with arm stretched out in
an mstudied attitude of appeal, and with
an energy the more impressive by contrast
with her usually calm and almost shy man
ner, Mercy poured out her protest.
What has my mother done, she de-
manded with a sort OF sacred fury that
stilled for the moment all muTmurs. and
brought to the eyes of more than one tears,
half of pity, and half of excitement, ''what
has my mother done that you would treat
her dead body worse than that of dog
She has been more than mother 10 me,
and how many times she has helped the
sick and the poor Oh are you the neigh
bors have lived among all my life, and
that have been kind to me, that must beg
for grave for my mother, who was kinder
and better than you all And You, Uncle
Ezra Who saved your hand when it was
frozen Who doctored little Hope when
she had the scarlet fever. You We're glad
enough to have her help when she was liv-
ing but now
Her self-control gave way, She broke
oil in a burst of hysterical sobs, leaning
her face upon the shoulder of her tremb-
ling old father. Ezra Johnston, for mo-
ment giving way before his nieces vehe-
memce. covered his confusion with "A sheer
and again attempted to seize the handle of
the bier
Before he could do more, however, Wig
oruus grasp caught his arm, and stalwart
young fellow drew him roughly back.
Let be, Ezra Johnston, the young man
said, in a deep voice, his strong, white teeth
showing angrily. Let he, or it will be
worse for ye.
Like a wildcat, Johnston turned TO strike
but before the blow could fall the clergy
man sprang to catch the strong wrist of
his angry parishioner.
stop ~ Priest Eaton commanded in II
voice of authority. 81 warn you that you
are going too far"
Enraged as Johnston was, he was still
sufficiently master of himself TO realize that
it was not safe to openly defy the clergy
man, and it is not improbable, too, that he
could not himself wholly shake OFF the habit
of obedience that was almost universal in
the scattered parish
With any ally less powerful than supersti-
ton, it would have been idle for him 70 set
himself against the minister on any ques-
ton but the remote pulses of the wave of
madness that shook Salem in l6lS was more
than a century in dying away, and in
Haipswell the belief in witchcraft was as
perfect as the faith in religion Even to-
dnv the sunerstition lives in manY a reIn0te